Days in Shanghai

May 6-7, 2010, San Antonio to Shanghai   We were up too, too early this morning. Wes' flight was at 5:35, so we were up around 2:45. Early morning is a horrible time to fly. But we got ready and left for the airport. I dropped Wes off at his terminal and then went to park the car, since I had more time before my flight at 6:25. I have gotten so used to all the automatic features on my car that I couldn't figure out how to get his key out of the lock! Finally, I realized that I had not put the transmission in PARK. I'm a bit worried about his car. One of the lots is being stripped, and there is a sign saying that cars will be towed if left there. Being gone for 3 weeks, I fear that the lot where I parked will also be stripped before Wes returns to get the car. Hope not.   My flights included going through Chicago. I was lucky. My connecting gate was close, and there was a mailbox there so that I could send back my parking tag I had to take with me after getting into the parking lot.   I had a horrible seatmate on the 13 1/2 hour flight from Chicago to Shanghai! He stank. I think it was a combination of bad teeth and being a heavy smoker. Whatever it was, I had to try to stay turned away. Also, he was an intruder expecting his elbow to be perfectly fine across the armrest and poking me. I quickly solved that problem by putting my pillow between my body and the armrest so that he was restricted to invading no more than my half of the armrest.   I was a bit shocked by the service from United Airlines. It was the worst I have ever had. The plane seemed old and worn. The meals were smaller and planer. It makes me glad that this is my last around-the-world travel. I would not want another flight that is so long with such poor service. It makes me worry about Continental and its service now that they are merging.   The flight was too, too long. I watched four films and parts of another two that I had previously seen in the theaters. I was so glad to touch down in Shanghai. Fortunately, I could stay in the baggage claim area (behind customs) until Wes' flight arrived about an hour later. My bag was one of the last ones off, and there were some maps and some literature I could read while waiting. Unfortunately, Wes' bag did not arrive with him.   We took the maglev (magnetic levitation) train to come into town. It was not operating yet when I arrived here before. It was FAST. We were passing cars on the expressway that looked like they were barely moving. However, there was a roughness to the ride I did not expect. I had always read that maglev trains would be smooth since they are going over a thin cushion of air. It's necessary to transfer to the metro for the last section of the trip into the center of the city (6 stops away). We did so easily without the car being too packed. I got a place with my bag right next to an exit door. By the time we got to town, the car was packed and I warned Wes ahead of time that we would get off at the next stop. He didn't seem to understand the urgency for getting closer to the door. I pushed my way out as others came in. I turned around and there was no Wes. He was behind 2-3 people and could not get out. I used a technique I've seen before. I reached inside, grabbed this arm, and pulled him through the crowd and out of the car. Everyone smiled. I assumed they were impressed that I knew what to do!! I guess i would have waited for Wes to take a train back and find me if I hadn't been able to get him off.   We were so tired that we went to bed at 7:30 p.m. We slept well until about 5:00 a.m. Then we got up and slowly got ready for our first day in Shanghai.     Sat., May 8, Shanghai   Breakfast here at the hotel is a combination of western and Chinese with more of an emphasis on the latter. We had noodles, rice, soups, boiled eggs, bacon, hashbrowns, and toast. There was no jam, no chile sauce, and no salt, so it was a bit bland. But it was better than some of the breakfasts I have had in Chinese hotels before.   We spent the morning at the Shanghai Museum which is now free. That's nice. We saw sculptures, porcelain, furniture, costumes, jade, etc. There were special exhibits from the Uffizi Galleries in Italy and about the Portuguese man who first came to China and influenced its future.   From there, we walked to the French Concession--the part of town where the French were restricted to live in the early part of the 1900s. It is a tree-lined area with old mansions and is now a rather trendy part of town.   Being tired, we returned to the room to rest in the afternoon. Then we went out again in the early evening to walk down the Shopping Street which is a pedestrian area with lots of lights and many people. We tired out again quickly, though, and returned to the hotel and went to bed again at 7:30 p.m. for the second night in a row.   Around 10:00 p.m., the doorbell rang. It was Wes' bag, although he slept through it all and didn't know it had arrived until I announced in the morning that Santa Claus had arrived overnight!     Sunday, May 9, 2010--Shanghai   Drizzle today! We were up early as usual and had breakfast when the restaurant opened. But we came back to the room and watched the news and napped until almost noon. The weather wasn't improving, so we dropped our plans. We did decide to take the metro across the river and go to a shopping mall in Pudong, the modern part of Shanghai.   The mall was big and almost half of it was taken up by restaurants doing a good business. We spent a couple of hours just wandering through it. Wes bought an umbrella since we couldn't find his when we unpacked his suitcase. We aren't sure what happened to it. We thought we packed it. Could someone at one of the airports have decided to remove it because of bad weather along the way? Otherwise, it should be in my guest bedroom when I get back. But both of us checked the room without seeing it. When we came out, the drizzle had stopped temporarily, so we walked to the riverfront to see the view toward the Bund. The drizzle began again, so we headed back to the hotel and watched a film on TV.   We stopped for information while out. The weather tomorrow should be better. That's good, because we hope to visit the Expo 2010.   Note:  It is now Tuesday and we are headed to Hangzhou.  We were at the Expo yesterday.  Unfortunately, we have not been able to be on the Internet until now because of poor communication.  The hotel doesn't have wi-fi.  But they failed to tell us that they have cable Internet.  We discovered it this morning as Wes checked our room to make sure we were not leaving anything.  He found a computer cable in the drawer!!  We tried McDonalds, but it only allows residents to use its wi-fi (so that the Chinese government can follow what EVERYONE is doing)!  We looked for cyber cafes, but we never found one.  Anyway, if our hotel in Hangzhou has either wi-fi or cable, we will update later today or tomorrow.